BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A dramatic underwater rescue mission to find a children’s football team who have been trapped in a flooded cave for two days was underway in northern Thailand, officials said Monday. Divers have reached a large chamber of the vast cave inside which the 12 boys and their coach are believed to be stuck, said the deputy governor of Chiang Rai province. “We think they are in this part of the cave, […]
ASEAN IN FOCUS
Malaysia picks 1MDB investigator as central bank chief
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) – A Malaysian official who probed the 1MDB mega-scandal which helped topple the corruption-plagued former regime has been appointed as the new central bank governor, the government said Friday. Nor Shamsiah Mohamad Yunus is returning to Bank Negara Malaysia to take up the top job almost two years after leaving her post as deputy governor, a spokesman for the prime minister told AFP. Muhammad Ibrahim quit as bank chief this month […]
PH hailed as first ASEAN SME Academy administrator
By Phoebe Salvador Eagle News Service The Philippines has been chosen as the first country to become the administrator of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Academy through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In a statement, the DTI said that in particular, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) was named as the administrator of the academy, a one-stop multi-platform online learning and information resource for Southeast Asian SMEs. […]
PH intensifies anti-dengue activities as it observes ASEAN Dengue Day
By Phoebe Salvador Eagle News Service (Eagle News) — As a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines conducted awareness campaigns for targeted individuals in observance of the 8th ASEAN Dengue Day (ADD) on Friday, June 15. The Department of Health (DOH) set “Kung Walang Lamok, Walang Dengue: Mag 4S Kontra Dengue” as the theme of the local observance of ADD this year. The DOH outlined the following 4S strategies: – search […]
Kim says N. Korea and US have overcome obstacles to hold summit
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — North Korea and the United States have overcome the obstacles of a difficult history to hold their summit in Singapore, the North’s leader Kim Jong Un said as the unprecedented meeting opened Tuesday. “The way to come to here was not easy,” Kim said, sitting at a table with Trump. “The old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward but we overcame all of them and we are […]
Malaysia central bank chief quits after 1MDB-linked scandal
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s central bank governor has resigned, the prime minister said Wednesday, after claims the bank helped the previous regime cover debts linked to a financial scandal by purchasing government land. Muhammad Ibrahim’s days had looked numbered since the new government, which came to power last month after a shock election win, disclosed the purchase made by Bank Negara Malaysia from Najib Razak’s government. Former prime minister Najib, his family and […]
Indonesia passes tougher terror law after suicide attacks
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia passed a new law Friday that will give police more power to take pre-emptive action against terror suspects in the wake of the country’s deadliest Islamist attacks in years. The bill had been stalled for almost two years as parliament wrangled over details, including how to define terrorism, but a wave of deadly suicide bombings this month hiked pressure on lawmakers to pass the legislation. Police will now be […]
Almost $30 million seized in raids linked to Malaysian ex-PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian police said Friday they found cash amounting to almost $30 million in a raid on a luxury apartment as they probed corruption allegations swirling around ousted leader Najib Razak. The money was seized along with 284 boxes containing designer handbags, as well as watches and jewellery from a condominium in Kuala Lumpur, which was raided along with Najib’s home and other sites last week. Najib’s coalition was thrown […]
Death toll in Bangladesh ‘anti-drugs’ crackdown rises above 50
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Shootouts across Bangladesh left nine alleged drug dealers dead Thursday, police said, as authorities stepped up a crackdown that now has claimed at least 52 lives in 10 days and drawn criticism from rights groups. The campaign comes as Bangladesh struggles to contain a surging drugs trade, particularly in methamphetamine pills known as “yaba”. However, human rights groups say many of the deaths are the result of extra-judicial killings. Two of […]
MH370 search to end next week: Malaysian minister
by Patrick Lee Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The search for flight MH370 will end next week, Malaysia’s transport minister said Wednesday, more than four years after the plane disappeared and triggered one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. The Malaysia Airlines jet vanished in March 2014 with 239 people — mostly from China — on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No sign of the jet was found in […]
Malaysia ex-PM Najib quizzed by graft agency
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AFP) — Scandal-tainted former Malaysian leader Najib Razak arrived Tuesday at the anti-corruption agency for questioning over a massive financial scandal that helped to bring down his long-ruling regime. Najib’s coalition suffered a shock defeat at the May 9 poll, beaten by a reformist alliance led by Mahathir Mohamad, which broke their six-decade stranglehold on power. Mahathir, who first served as premier from 1981-2003 and came out of retirement aged 92 to take […]
Tackle graft, governance to stem ‘Golden Triangle’ meth trade: UNODC
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — “Golden Triangle” countries must address corruption and collaborate more closely to tackle record meth production and the gangs who traffic the drug across Southeast Asia and beyond, the UN said Monday. From Bangkok to Brisbane, authorities are raking in huge hauls of methamphetamine stimulant pills — better known as “yaba” — and the purer, more potent crystallized version known as “ice.” They hail from the “Golden Triangle,” a lawless wedge of […]
